“We’re almost out of time... In the next lesson, we will also discuss the Great Demon King’s military strength. Can someone name a famous battle?” the teacher asked.
“I can. The battle of the Dragonsbane Knight against Gyu Ri, the Parasitic Dragon.”
Now that’s a blast from the past... Max had a distant look in his eyes as he heard that nostalgic name.
“The Dragonsbane Knight thought he’d killed Bam Bu, the Windblade Dragon, but the situation turned perilous thanks to the authority of Gyu Ri, who had been parasitizing Bam Bu’s body: The Parasitic Dragon’s power allowed it to copy the being that killed its host. It’s said that the Dragonsbane Knight somehow emerged victorious but was almost killed in the process.”
No one would have imagined that I would come out of the dragon’s body. I really was on the verge of death. Seventy years ago, Max thought he’d killed a powerful dragon, but for only a moment. He then found himself in dire straits as his spitting image jumped out of the dragon’s corpse, catching him completely off guard.
Max almost reflexively grimaced as he remembered that battle, but he somehow held back since he was inside a classroom. His powers came from the blue dragon, and they were definitely impossible to imitate. And yet, the power known as an authority, which disregarded the laws of reality, had successfully created a perfect copy of Max’s powers, and he’d ended up fighting himself, up in the sky.
“Can anyone name another battle?”
“The Fistmaster against the monk slayers. Especially the decisive battle against the ones led by Black Smoke or Purple Smoke,” a student said.
That was an unavoidable battle. Ferd nodded in his mind.
Monk slayers, monsters created by the Great Demon King, had been among the most feared creatures of the great war. Their bodies were entirely made up of lava, letting them burn their enemies to death with a single touch, and they’d even learned monk techniques. Particularly powerful or experienced monk slayers had become creatures true to their name. However, many of them had been destroyed by Stein, and many of those fights had been recorded as decisive battles.
“Kahn the Necromancer is also worthy of mention,” another student said.
Despite being so young, they know the names of some strange people. Max was a little surprised when Kahn’s name was brought up.
Kahn had specialized in manipulating human corpses, and although he hadn’t been part of the Great Demon King’s forces, he’d assisted them here and there in order to flood the world with death.
“Hmm, I suppose we’ve gone on a bit long. All right, that’s enough for today. For the next class, you should study up on Gyu Ri, the Parasitic Dragon, the monk slayers led by Black Smoke or Purple Smoke, Kahn the Necromancer, and also others like Muu Gi.”
Those are some nostalgic names... Elrica also recalled the distant past as she listened to the teacher ending the lesson. However, all those names were long gone. Defeat in the great war meant death, so none of them were alive anymore.
“Phew...” Ferd and Elrica sighed together as they exited the classroom. The young people’s inquiries had left them with a fatigue they hadn’t felt even when they’d fought for three days and nights in a row during the great war.
“As you get older, new information starts giving you headaches.” Max nodded, not even attempting to hide his grin.
“Yes, that’s true,” Ferd replied dismissively. That damn Max sure enjoyed himself. I bet he’d have run away if we found a class studying his or King Gale’s achievements. Just as Ferd expected, if Max ever found himself in a classroom praising his deeds or those of his older brother Gale, he’d have been unable to keep listening and would have run away at full speed.
“In any case, studying is a good thing. Thanks to it, I never struggled with putting food on the table,” Max said.
“It seems that you were doing a bunch of different things,” Ferd replied.
“Yeah. Still, studying alone wasn’t enough to get me literary talent...”
“So that’s your one weakness?”
“That’s right,” Max muttered softly as he shrugged his shoulders at Ferd.
Max had secretly assisted with the reconstruction after the end of the great war, and after that he made his living by frequently changing jobs, the main one being peddling. His education at the royal palace had helped him achieve this life; he’d probably been one of the most blessed people in terms of a learning environment.
“A protagonist that constantly changes names is a problem that goes beyond studies or literary talent,” Elrica pointed out.
“Ha ha...ha ha...yeah...” Max was still grinning, but he nodded weakly at her comment. “Ahem. Now, where are...the others...at...?” Max tried to regain his composure and meet up with his friends, but a particular sight made his eyes go wide.
“I can only say that you’re amazing. Please keep doing your best.” Stein, who still looked like a virtuous priest, was filled with incredible emotion as he gave words of encouragement to a group of students, one by one.
“Th-Thank you very much,” a student replied.
“What is Stein even doing?” Ferd muttered, feeling flabbergasted.
“Who knows...? Perhaps they just hit it off.” Elrica could guess the gist of the situation based on the students’ excellent physiques.
“Well then, I’ll have to excuse myself now. Hmm? Oh, listen to this, everyone. The future of muscles is truly bright. There are people complaining about the younger generation being lazy or spoiled, but that is definitely not the case.” Stein had a spring in his step after meeting his kindred spirits.
“I-Is that so?” Ferd muttered.
“Right...”
“I-I see.”
Ferd and the other two could only nod with indescribably strange looks on their faces. It seemed that not even the Hero’s party could understand the theories of a musclebrain.
“Oh, there you are. Finding you was easy. I only needed to search for a place that seems hard to cut.” Sazaki and Lara also joined the others after they’d finished observing all of Falke and Connie’s class, but the Blademaster’s searching methods were also incomprehensible.
“What should we do next?” Max asked Ferd.
“I’d like to sit down for a bit and drink some water. Let’s go to the cafeteria,” Ferd replied.
“Me too...” Elrica also wanted to take a break.
“Let’s go with that, then.”
“You look awfully exhausted. Did something happen?” Sazaki asked after noticing the state Ferd and Elrica were in.
“We had the great opportunity to listen to theories regarding the esteemed, legendary Hero and Saint,” Max explained with a grin.
“Bwa ha ha ha! I see, I see!” Sazaki realized what kind of theories Max was talking about and burst into laughter.
“That’s what history’s like.” Lara shook her head in resignation as she remembered the statue of her pure self outside the city.
Incidentally, since this was an academy full of young people, rumors here traveled fast, even faster than Ferd and the rest heading to the cafeteria. Those rumors even reached Connie, Sazaki’s great-great-grandson, in the blink of an eye.
“Hey, I heard that there are old people all around campus,” said Franz, Connie’s friend.
Connie had an idea of who these old people might be, but there was no way he could say that they were the members of the Hero’s party.
“I think they’re probably my great-great-grandpa, great-great-grandma, and their friends.” Therefore, Connie gave a bland explanation to cover things up.
“Oh, so they’re your relatives,” Franz said.
“I heard that there was also a high priest,” said Hagen, another of Connie’s friends.
“Really?”
“Yes. From what I heard, he could be a monk. Is that right, Connie?”
“Who knows? I don’t really know the details,” Connie gave another vague answer. He’s probably talking about Mr. Stein. The part about him being a monk is correct.
“I heard that there was an elderly couple who looked like they came from the countryside. Apparently there was also an old man with clothes unbefitting his age walking around. We’ve got some strange visitors today.” Next up was the puzzled Emmeline, the only girl in the friend group. She’d also been the student Falke had instructed on magic barriers earlier.
Mr. Ferd, Mrs. Elrica, and Mr. Max, huh? They’re easy to spot, Connie thought.
Franz was a short, mischievous boy, with blue eyes and short red hair. Hagen had long, gray hair, gray eyes, and a calm and collected demeanor. Emmeline had short blonde hair and blue eyes, and she looked intelligent but rigid. Then there was Connie, who always moved to the beat of his own drum. Though the four of them were completely different, they’d somehow clicked ever since enrollment and often hung out together.
“If we aren’t careful, the rumors will become even more exaggerated. I already heard people guessing that some senior officials or whatever were here incognito,” Franz said.
“Well...that’s not completely out of the question. Ordinary elderly people would find it a little difficult to tour the academy.”
“Soon, we might even start hearing people say this is preliminary work for foreign royalty to enroll here,” Franz continued.
“No, that’s a bit of a stretch. At most, they might use the academy as reference for their own country’s educational institutions,” Emmeline replied. Though she understood Franz’s suggestion, she still found it impossible.
“Come on, dream a little.”
“Do members of royalty leave their country often to begin with?”
“Perhaps something happened.”
“No way.”
It’s certainly a dream, in a lot of ways. Since Connie knew the true identities of these elderly people, he knew that the real situation far surpassed Franz’s imaginings. No one was more famous than the Hero’s party, and the elderly group currently touring the academy had more global influence than any king. To borrow Franz’s words, this situation was straight out of a dream.